The New Fifth State of Matter

There are four states of matter, which we know as solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. That was before others are discovered.

But scientist have discovered or created if you will, another state of matter known as supersolid or BEC (Bose-Einstein Condensate
The name supersolid apparently makes you think the new state of matter is solid but in reality, it is not. I would explain.

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How it was done?

The making this supersolid should be easy. Oh yeah? If it was easy, I should have been the one to create it and maybe pick a Nobel prize in physics in the process.

The process of creating a super solid involves the use of the Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC) which comprise of sodium gas.

This BEC is a special type of matter that was predicted in the 1920s by Satyendra Bose and Albert Einstein. However, due to lack of equipment and facilities were unable to create it.
The fifth state of matter was treated as a theoretical possibility.

But in 2001, Wolfgang Ketterie and two other scientists won a Nobel Prize for the discovery of Bose-Einstein Condensate.

Applying lasers to this condensate, they were able to cool the condensate to near absolute zero temperature ( 0 Kelvin or -273.15 degrees Celsius and -459.67 degrees Fahrenheit) as hitting a colder temperature more than zero is not a possibility, at least for now. By now the atoms would move in languid motion.

^{Wikipedia CCO: A 3D successive snapshots in time in which the atoms condensed from less dense red, yellow and green areas into very dense blue to white areas.}

Bose-Einstein Condensation cannot be seen with the naked eye. But the peaks from the computer graphics show the 3D successive shots when all the atoms behaved the same way and condensed into a super atom acting as an entity.

Bose is a state of matter obtained via cooling a gas (sodium) which has a low density ( 1/100th of air density) at very near absolute zero temperature. They then become "super atoms" as they behave like one entity.

As they are cooled, they become frictionless. They are now like a superfluid. This drama is getting interesting, but that is not all. It now acts as a superconductor given that the resistance is zero. Thus the electrons encounter no resistance.

But upon further cooling of the sodium gas, a non-crystalline "solid' was born. Solid in the sense that it was described by scientists as

Supersolidity combines superfluid flow with long-range spatial periodicity of solids, two properties that are often mutually exclusive. ^Source

That was pretty ingenious. Now we have a "fluid" that is not solid but somewhat in between; somehow gel-like.

Our work thus establishes a system with continuous symmetry-breaking properties, associated collective excitations and superfluid behaviour.^Source

In other words, the collective excitation is quasiparticles. Oh no. Not another big word. Not to worry, they are a just a family of particles with properties that act as one due to how the particles relate with one another. The
superfluid behaviour mentioned above is just fluid with zero friction that is superconductive.

The particle symmetry-breaking properties are just another way of analysing the importance of symmetry and things that break it.

It is all about the molecular arrangement, folks

Back in primary school, we were taught there are four states of matter: solid, liquid, gas and plasma. These are true as we know it then but the whole setup is something to do with how the molecules are arranged. The gases have the least interaction with its molecules compared to solids with the plasma a free soul to do whatever it wanted.

In between these states, there are other states of matter exist such as Bose-Einstein Condensate, electron-degenerate matter found in dwarf stars, and the strange one. Yes, the stranger matter that could be located in our magnetic star friend ( neutron stars). Oh, there is the time crystals.

The time crystal is a hypothetical structure that has a degree of movement at a ground state or lowest energy level. In theory, there should be no movement at this point, due to energy that is required to do that. But our dear friend, the time crystal, defied the odds.

Possible Application

There is a possible application of BECs in observing the quantum effect as a quantum simulator. The observation of massless particles that gained mass is believed to exist but is difficult to observe or hard to create. But with BECs they can now be observed.

For now, given the present capacity of science, a lot of BEC use is majorly limited to research areas in quantum mechanics (quantum physics)..

There is also a possible application in spectroscopy, metrology, and atomic optics applications.

Reference

• The Coolest Atom
• MIT News on BEC
• Time Crystals
• Possible Use of BEC

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